Addicted to playing Mummies

[8bitsdeep]

I've been playing DCSS very sporadically for years, but I'm now planning to make a more focused effort at getting my first win now that victory dancing is gone (hooray!). I've dabbled in a few builds but the vast majority of my characters have been Mummy spellcasters of one sort or another. I love playing magic characters in general and Mummies immediately stood out to me with their complete lack of hunger, despite their abysmal aptitudes.

So far, it hasn't been going well. Occasionally I'll get a few levels into the Lair, but that's the best I've managed to muster. Been reading the forums and wiki a lot and I've soaked up all the novice tips I can find. I've been trying to play slow and cautiously, though I've never been so slow as to run into trouble with the OOD monster timer. Lately, I've been running mostly EE, Ne, or Su.

My question is, are mummies holding me back? I noticed on the wiki they were listed as one of the most difficult species to play, but I'm simply in love with the thought of no-hunger cost for spells and no food clock to worry about. I tried to a few games playing Kobolds to try and ease myself into having hungry be a part of my games again, but I wasn't too impressed by the better aptitudes.

Any builds to you might suggest for someone with my proclivities or other tips for spellcasters in general would be most welcome.

Thinking of trying a DDEE next....

[mumra]

My favourite character is a DEWz. The food clock isn't really much of a problem; there's plenty of permafood around for the rare occasions when you can't find chunks; and most games you'd find at least one of Ring of Sustenance, Amulet of the Gourmand, Staff of Energy, or even just anything with rPois (since it lets you eat all poisonous chunks as well) - any one of those items makes the food clock even easier to deal with.

Being living means you have access to a whole range of extra options via your potions.

Later on in the game you can train up Necro/Tmut and get Necromutation, and never have to worry about the food clock again; but you can always change back in a couple of turns if you need to quaff a potion quickly.

[Yet Another Stupid Noob]

DD have thier own quirks, if hunger is an issue, thier (relativly) low int and aptitudes will irritate you.

Personally I like the elves for casters. Your are fragile, but with a higher int and spellcasting aptitude hunger is almost never an issue for me.

[Stormfox]

I'm simply in love with the thought of no-hunger cost for spells and no food clock to worry about.

Think of it this way.

No matter what your starting build, a game of Crawl requires exactly the same number of brain cycles to process the tactical situation.

Since Mummies don't have to worry about hunger, the brain cycles required for other builds to handle the hunger situation are diverted into other arenas, like easy healing (no potions) and how to cope with slow leveling.

[slowcar]

unless you play a spriggan with higher level spells you rarely encounter real food issues, especially if you make it to the hive.
mummies are really tempting, and i have played some more or less successful, mainly following the mummy guide here on the forums, but there are other caster races which are a lot easier to play.
in the long run it is easier to get necromutation for the extended endgame compared to getting a mummy into the late game at all.

my personal favorite are high elves, with short/long blades in addition to casting, followed by kenku with their perma fly and nice combat apts.

[8bitsdeep]

Maybe this is a problem with my expectations.

I've tried a SEEE and a DEEE now and I ran into the same problem with both. D:2-5 I spent most of the time at Hungry or worse. I try to save my permafood for emergenceies when I hit Near Starving and get by on chunks in the meantime but it seems like most everything is contaminated and I soon end up either having to risk eating it, use up all my permafood, or both.

Food is too tight for so early in the game, but perhaps that's normal and it'll turn around once my spellcasting improves? Am I just getting unlucky with the RNG? I feel like I'm missing something here.

[KoboldLord]

If your chunks are contaminated, eat them anyway. Really.

You only have a chance of getting sickness, so if you get sick from the first one just keep eating until you get one that works. The sickness will wear off eventually, and the stat hit will eventually heal itself. It's annoying, but sometimes you have to make do. Sometimes you'll have to chop up an entire orc pack to get a single good chunk, but if you're hungry you should do it anyway.

[slowcar]

indeed. eating contaminated is usually mandatory.
later on you can offset the sickness with regeneration quite easily.

[joellercoaster]

If your chunks are contaminated, eat them anyway. Really.

This bit of advice (well, obviously, another with basically the same content ) was a massive help to me when I started out.

Think of it this way:

1) You are not going to have clean chunks every time you get hungry (as you've found).

2) What's worse than being Near Starving? Being Near Starving, losing stats, needing to kill monsters for food, and being unable to heal because you're sick from eating a contaminated chunk.

Therefore, since occasional sickness is probably inevitable, try and have it happen earlier in the Hunger Spiral Of Disaster. The sickness will generally go away before the satiety does, giving you more time to find better food.

[dpeg]

If you like the foodless casting so much, perhaps try a Vampire? Granted, they won't heal at Bloodless, so you need to manage your blood level, but still.

[8bitsdeep]

If your chunks are contaminated, eat them anyway. Really.

This bit of advice (well, obviously, another with basically the same content ) was a massive help to me when I started out.

Aha! I think this is what I was missing. Rolled a DDNe for a change of pace and I'm currently on D:7 with a nice supply of meat and bread rations in reserve.

Thanks guys!

[njvack]

The advice about eating contaminated doesn't apply quite so much to DD -- stat rot doesn't heal itself on them.

[joellercoaster]

They have a slightly different hunger picture though, since they don't spend any time resting up to heal either.

Having said that, my Deep Dwarves still end up eating contaminated chunks sometimes.

[XuaXua]

Might as well face it, you're addicted to mums.

[vintermann]

The food clock is very much an issue for non-mummies - but not as a clock, rather as a nerf on high-level spells.

It's just that with a HE or DE, you just can't spam orb of destruction or similar-powered spells, while you have them at ration hunger. They will stay at high hunger for a very long time, during which you have to save them for emergencies (with all the tradeoffs and risks that implies).

With mummies, you can spam them as soon as the success rate permits. The sheer fun of cleaning out Lair end with orb of destruction is not to be underestimated (elephant chunks everywhere!).

My mummy strategy is staying tightly focused on core competencies (and utilizing best practices and taking advantage of synergy effects ). In game terms, focus on as few skills as possible. Don't try to get flexible. Having a trick for every situation is not the mummy way - they have to live with their weaknesses, and make the most of their strength. So, if you go necromancy, stick with with Kiku and don't try to become a death knight or necro-sneak or whatever. If you go conjurations, use Vehumet and prioritize pure conjurations over elemental specialties.

[slowcar]

The sheer fun of cleaning out Lair end with orb of destruction is not to be underestimated (elephant chunks everywhere!).

And elephant chunks can be eaten.

If you go conjurations, use Vehumet and prioritize pure conjurations over elemental specialties.

In my experience both Sif (free channeling) and Makhleb (free healing) are stronger for mummies. Makhleb healing is not to be underestimated when you cannot drink potions.

[JeffQyzt]

Might as well face it, you're addicted to mums.

The mental image this gives me is a waxy looking mummy in a suit in front of a microphone, surrounded by slowly shifting zombie-chick minion hordes. Actually, it's not all that different than the actual video...

[XuaXua]

Might as well face it, you're addicted to mums.

The mental image this gives me is a waxy looking mummy in a suit in front of a microphone, surrounded by slowly shifting zombie-chick minion hordes. Actually, it's not all that different than the actual video...

I believe the phrase takes on a whole other meaning if you're British.

[Roderic]

soccer mummies?